Ghost Walker
by silverguns22
Summary: The planet of Hasturan has lost all communication in the blink of an eye, as such Ollanious and a team of veteran stormtroopers are sent to the settlement of Augurn to investigate. Unfortunately all communication with them is very quickly lost as well


'You want my account, Remembrancer, very well' He said in a soft and low tone that seemed as inviting as it was hostile, a smooth and refined voice of a practiced orator 'yes, that event is still very clear to me even now' He sat back on the recliner taking in the cold air around him whilst trying to find words for his thought, his cropped and finely combed black hair resting slightly over his blue eyes causing a exaggerated contrast against his pail skin. His breathing perfectly timed to the beating rhythm of the bowls of the ship, in all possible forms this man was handsome and young, his face was studious and attractive presenting a well educated and elegant figure, features reflecting the strength of his will power; however, his face showed a sense of horror of which, though controlled well, the remembrancer had not before seen. He took a deep breath his eyes becoming suddenly very stern and cold.

It began rather quickly, the Valkyrie shuttled in low over the sleeping settlement of Augurn. With practiced hand the storm troopers slid out onto a low lying viewing platform, him among them, and scanned the perimeter. Once the perimeter was established their leader raised a gloved fist in order to signal all clear, and he stood strait in order to address the squad  
'This mission requires us to be fast, in quickly and out quickly' he said clearly, then he paused, cleared his throat and continued 'I know full well that you are the best in the Eden system and wish not to be disappointed, now then we will split into two fire teams in order to cover more ground as has already been briefed' his eyes fluttered over each one taking in their potential physical ability and equipment as he raised his bolt gun to rest in both hands instead of where he was holding it limply at his side, in response the rest of the storm troopers readied their weapons 'look to your wargear and praise be to the emperor' he announced in conclusion before turning and striding briskly down the stairs of the viewing platform.

'Praise his name' he heard unanimously from behind him, He came across a cross road and directed some of the soldiers pursuing him down a separate path along the side of a residential complex before following suit himself. He inspected all the soldiers before him, fine men who had a long service record, each of them was a good head or so taller than himself but that was to be expected of the men of the 412th Eden grenadiers, in addition to this over their finely crafted black carapace was the trademark black trench coat of the guardsmen hailing from the Eden system each bearing the gray insignia of the imperial aquila and promptly under it the imprint of which regiment the troopers served alongside or were chosen from. The soldier at the head of the force was a giant even among the grenadiers, towering at around seven to eight foot he reasoned to the height almost of the astartes, came to a halt at a wall joining a door into the building complex they were following, the shadow cast in the night sky leading him to be in the most part invisible as he carefully opened the door and unstrung the heavy bolter that was resting securely on his back.

He turned into the door with his bolt gun raised to cover every possible inch of the complex corridor, all lights were out which although helped the storm troopers did also help any possible aggressors, his helmet picked up no signatures, he tried the power of the complex but it appeared that all energy lines had been cut. He signaled for the two troopers on the right of him to move into the building whilst he and the larger man covered them before the communications in his helmet crackled into life  
'my lord, this is private Alina Vera, we have visual copies on bodies' he swallowed deeply before replying  
'signs of death'  
'it appears to be' a pause 'burns unlike I have seen, but without any chance of survival. Most bodies have charred limbs or burned bone showing' he nodded inwardly to himself  
'understood private, carry on but keep communications open' one of the advancing guardsmen turned and raised his fist in signal of the corridor being clear leading to the inquisitor advancing down the corridor himself.

A further corridor was joined to the one they were currently occupying much the same and still completely unlit, He leaned out and scanned it his visor showing no current contacts, oddly quiet, he stepped out and advanced slowly whilst responding to another call  
'Lord, caution is advised. sir, some doors may be trapped'  
'understood'  
Another corridor with the same routine but still no contacts, somewhat reassuring, then an explosion. In response he signaled his fire team to fall in on him and he raised his bolt gun carefully checking the mechanics  
'advance with caution' he said lowly  
'lord, investigate?' the smallest soldier inquired bracing his plasma gun against his chest, the dim light from the plaschamber illuminating and reflecting of the bottom of his jet black gasmask accompanied by a lightly reverberating energetic hum. He shook his head slowly before pressing on down the dimly illuminated corridor at a crouched walk listening to the slight amount of com chatter from the second combat squad, nothing seemed amiss to him leading him to reason the explosion as a timed explosive, perhaps the removal of a trap seemed most likely however he still deemed caution of a top necessity. He scanned the contents of a room, nothing but a couple of beds, untidy and unmade and a half eaten lunch still warm  
's'like they just left half way through lunch' one of the storm troopers chuckled darkly picking up a piece of newly cooked bread  
'quiet Pavel' the shorter one grunted 'that's disrespectful.'  
'That it is, know your place private, or praise thy emperors name.' He said coldly to him  
'I apologise lord' he said whilst obediently placing the bread back where he had found it and filing back into rank, again the column came across a junction, this time a T junction, to the right sat another similarly dimly lit corridor that was the same as the ones prior but with more rooms branching off it, to the left sat a heavy cast plasteel door. He coughed quietly inside his helmet for something weighed heavily on his mind whilst inspecting the intricate carving on the door with his hand. His hand slid carefully but with confidence across the handle and onto the main body of the door until it stopped on a rough patch. Burned but not melted. He traced the small area of the burn mark indicating it may have been accidental or indirect, oddly a mixture between a burn and a direct physical impact most probably not imperial weaponry, or at least not one he had come across in his vast studies, that was unless...

His train of though was interrupted by the sounds of conversation from behind it, a female voice that was familiar, demanding but not loud enough to hear clearly through the door. He listened for a few seconds maybe a minute longer before the crackle of lasfire was definite along with an ungodly screech of a semi-synthetic creature.  
'trooper, Gavriil, blow this door" he ordered whilst wheeling about to cover any sign of creatures in the corridor, the sound was far from directly human and the lasfire indicated hostility 'Pavel, cover the corridor from which we came' he continued to bark with the sound of lasfire becoming louder and less regimented. The trooper, Gavriil, stepped forwards and jammed the stock of his plasma gun against his rigid shoulder in order to gain a better aim but something was off. the inquisitor Ollanious Khordel noticed, a few seconds too late to stop the trooper from firing, the machine curse hanging upon his mind that caused Gavriil's plasma gun to overheat burning his arm and melting the carapace armoured gauntlet that rested upon the grip below the venting chamber. The soldier fell to his knees cupping his hand gently whilst emitting an odd guttural noise in response to the pain of the carapace melting through his skin, this was drowned out however by a boom of something collapsing.  
'Look to the emperor, Gavriil' he roared 'and private, the door' as ordered the bear of a man lurched forward with his heavy bolter ready braced  
'stand clear' the man grunted with a heavily accented voice before firing a round that brought the door clean of the hinges and tumbling down into a pit, Ollanious stepped forward into the new breach and peered down into the abyss below before taking his helmet off in respect for the entire floor of the room had collapsed  
'Emperor guide them' he said piously 'for they are in your hands now'


End file.
